Hi,
A friend emailed me an image taken with his iPhone 5 as Large, but when I dragged it into Aperture it's only a few KBs. How come? And what to do next time?
Thanks a lot,
Raphael
MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)
Was the original photo taken with the back or front camera?
The photo would need to be sent as "Original size" to be at maximum size/quality.
Send the photo at "Actual Size", not "Large". The "Large" setting might scale it down.
Thanks Stedman.
It was taken with the back of the phone, screen facing photographer - does it make a difference?
I actually tested with my own iphone 5 and the image in actual size is 887 KB! What happened to the file? it's tiny now.
Yes, the back camera is a much higher MegaPixel (and file size) than the front camera. See the post from Léonie above for an example of the differences in file size.
Hi Léonie. I thought this phone's images were 6MP-8MP. I thought the file would be larger.
The 8mP number is the pixel rating, not the file size. 1mB is about average for a photo from a camera with that rating. My Canon 18mP camera produces photos at about 5mB file size.
Which is the front camera and which the back?
The back camera is the one you would normally use to take photos. It has higher resolution, and can be viewed on the screen while taking the photo. The front camera is the lower resolution camera, that would be used when using a video chat session such as Skype or FaceTime.
Thanks. I thought the same camera operated both views,
You are welcome. If you look closely at the front near the top you can see the lens of the front facing camera.
Raphael, it will depend on the level of detail in the iPhone 5s images.
The back camera take 8 Megapixel photos, but because of the JPEG compression the file size will vary, depending on the content of the image. A plain background will result in a much higher compression.
I just opened one of my projects and sorted the iPhone 5s photos by file size - all original size.
The 8MP back camera images without much structure have a file size of 650 KB, the images with a lot of detail and shot in HDR have 3.65 MB.
The front camera with 1.2 MP file sizes vary between 250 KB and 684 KB.
The front camera is the lower resolution camera, that would be used when using a video chat session such as Skype or FaceTime.
OT:
I use the front camera, when I want to take a picture of the roof in church or castle. I just put the iPhone flat on the table, facing upward, and get a nice shot of the ceiling above me. It does not even require a tripod. But the depth of field is more suitable for selfies.
Wow, HDR adds a lot to a file's heft. But is it substantial with marked improvement in file richness and definition?
But is it substantial with marked improvement in file richness and definition?
It will depend on the situation. If the light is poor and you cannot keep the iPhone steady, or if the subject is moving, forget it. Then you will have a bad motion blur in the HDR version and the regular jpeg will be much better.
But if a photo has strong contrasts, you will notice much more detail in the highlights and shadows. I like to use HDR for landscape photos. The cloudy skies will be more dramatic and there will be more detail in the misty background.
Thank you so much Léonie.
I am surprised though that you use your phone so often for photographs. I don't, it doesn't "feel" right in the hand or to the eye to me.
Why does the file size of an iPhone image drop when emailed?
